I have Windows XP and it has been working like a champ for years.
The other night, I lost my web connection and things were runnign a bit slow, so I decided to restart to get everything going again.
Well, I restarted and now I cannot fully get into Windows again.
It gets there, but while my start-up prgrams are runing, it just freezes. The start bar pops up and then disappears and nothing works. Everything just stops loading.
I CAN boot into Safe mode, but I cannot run any diagnostic stuff in Safe mode. (or if I can, I dont know how. All of the Norton AV stuff says it wont run in Safe Mode)
I DL'd HiJackThis!, but in safe mode not everything is running. (BW, BOY is it QUICK in Safemode! Wow!)
After numerous restarts yesterday and the day before, my power 300W supply gave out, so I replaced it yesterday with a 450W. My Mouse also decided to stop working, so it has been replaced.
I would love any help or ideas of what to do (dont say Get a Mac!- Its not an option)
I could format my C drive, but I would prefer nt to since I have some programs on there it would be a pain to get back.
All of my important files are on a different Drive.
Please help!
BTW, My Norton subscription ran out a few days ago... would that have anything to do with it?
Also, I ran a full VirusScan and DiskCheck and both came back clean.
Does it give you any information on the restart, something like "Windows Was Unable to Load" after the BIOS Post screen?
If you can load it up in safe mode, the first thing I'd do is back up as many hard-to-replace things as possible to your good drive.
Can you get into Safe Mode with Networking? Is the network interface built into the MoBo or is it a plug-n-play?
And if you're worried that it's Norton, maybe load in Safe Mode and uninstall Norton.
I CAN get into SafeMode with Networking.
No weird error messages or anything-- it just freezes.
I will try to uninstall Norton tonight and see if that helps.
jeffmx5
New Reader
2/11/09 11:21 a.m.
Overheating? Are all the fans running and clean?
81gtv6
Reader
2/11/09 12:24 p.m.
The first thing I would do is get into Safe mode and uninstall Norton. Norton is one of those products that get into just about every nook and cranny in your computer and can be hard to get rid of.
Let us know how things go.
Salanis
SuperDork
2/11/09 1:16 p.m.
Start in Safe Mode. Backup everything that is vital. Start uninstalling everything that isn't (especially Norton). Go from there.
Even if you get it running, I'd still be sure to backup everything you care about, then reformat and reinstall.
install Malwarebytes antimalware. with updates.
run full scan.
the other tool to run is Combofix from bleepingcomputer.com
And not to be captain-obvious, but DO NOT download & install "Antivirus 2009"....I'm still trying to get that completely off a friend's machine.
okayy, well I am at home now, in safe-mode.
When I go to the Control panel to add/remove programs, it says I have to be in Normal mode to run the set-up to uninstall it.
Go into safe mode and go to Start>Run and type msconfig and hit enter. Go to the startup tab and start disabling programs from starting up. You have a corrupt program that is crashing at startup. I would not be surprised if it was Norton, that's the worst possible thing you can install on a computer. I would install a Virus before I installed Norton.
I know I am opening a can of worms here, but what Antivirus program is any good?
Unix of some kind.
(hey, you knew it was coming sooner or later)
JThw8
Dork
2/11/09 6:05 p.m.
SupraWes wrote:
Go into safe mode and go to Start>Run and type msconfig and hit enter. Go to the startup tab and start disabling programs from starting up. You have a corrupt program that is crashing at startup. I would not be surprised if it was Norton, that's the worst possible thing you can install on a computer. I would install a Virus before I installed Norton.
This. Something is bombing at startup.
For a quick check you can log into windows and hold down the shift key as it starts up. Unless something has changed (I stopped doing tech support long ago) this will prevent anything in the startup group from running.
OKay well this is just getting stupid.
Trying to Uninstall NSystem Works thruthe Windows Add/Remove Programs is just not working. It keeps saying there is an error. I tried running ComboFix, but I cant get into Norton to disable the Antivirus scanning so ComboFix will run.
And on top of this, when I am back in regular mode, I cannot connect to the internet.
I just want to uninstall Norton!! How hard is that! Is there some sort of force-delete I can do?
billy3esq wrote:
Tim Baxter wrote:
Unix of some kind.
(hey, you knew it was coming sooner or later)
Or OS X. 
What about "Obtain A Mac?"
okay, well, I finally got rid of Norton System Works and every Norton program on my computer. Things seem to be running okay fornow, I am in normal mode and back on the net.
Thanks for the help everyone- I will let you know if something else goes awry.
Tommy Suddard wrote:
billy3esq wrote:
Tim Baxter wrote:
Unix of some kind.
(hey, you knew it was coming sooner or later)
Or OS X.
What about "Obtain A Mac?"
Covered it. Macs run on BSD, therefore Unix of some kind.
But no matter what kind of Unix it is, it's going to be better than the hell of Windows.
Crash Different
This video is about the "Mac Experience". It's dated so I doubt many of the gripes are still relevant, but damned funny.
Uninstall Norton? Manually removing most viruses is FAR easier!
Seriously, it should be possible through the add/remove programs dialog if you have the uninstall password (there's a default one if you don't know what it is). If you can't do it that way, you're pretty much outta luck. Norton works like a rootkit.
I'm guessing he's more interested in fixing his current problem than spending a few grand to get into a whole set of new ones. Mac users and Jehovah's Witnesses....
Norton is a bear, isn't it? Glad that it seemed to be the problem and that it's gone now. Near misses are a good reminder to back up your important stuff.
